Philadelphia, Pa. (April 16, 2013) - Lower mortality and other improved patient outcomes achieved at designated "Magnet hospitals" are explained partly—but not completely—by better nurse staffing, education, and work environment, reports a study in the May issue of Medical Care. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. "Magnet hospitals have lower mortality because of investments in nursing," comments Matthew D. McHugh, PhD, JD, MPH, RN, of University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, lead author of ...

Philadelphia, Pa. (April 16, 2013) - Startup companies founded by physician entrepreneurs are an important source of patents used in developing innovative new medical devices, suggests a study in the May issue of Medical Care. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. "Device manufacturers gain more from the patents of physician-founded firms than from those of non-physician-founded firms in their subsequent invention and innovation efforts," according to the study by Sheryl Winston Smith, PhD, and Andrew Sfekas, PhD, ...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories researchers Lisa Deibler and Arthur Brown had a ready-made problem for their computer modeling work when they partnered with the National Nuclear Security Administration's Kansas City Plant to improve stainless steel tubing that was too hard to meet nuclear weapon requirements. When steel is too hard it becomes brittle, so the plant ended up getting new tubing. However, Deibler said KCP needed a backup in case it couldn't find replacements in time to meet deadlines. Sandia's modeling, coupled with experiments, allowed ...

Cyclone Imelda has lost both her punch and her hurricane status as the storm moved into an area of higher wind shear and cooler waters in the Southern Indian Ocean. NASA's Aqua satellite provided an image of Imelda that showed wind shear that has been hammering the storm, had pushed the bulk of the storm's precipitation southeast of the center. Wind shear at higher levels has increased to as high as 30 knots (34.5 mph/55.5 kph), according to upper level analysis of the atmosphere that was conducted by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. That stronger wind shear is weakening ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Though they be but little, they are fierce. The most powerful batteries on the planet are only a few millimeters in size, yet they pack such a punch that a driver could use a cellphone powered by these batteries to jump-start a dead car battery – and then recharge the phone in the blink of an eye. Developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the new microbatteries out-power even the best supercapacitors and could drive new applications in radio communications and compact electronics. Led by William P. King, the Bliss ...

University of Missouri engineer Randy Curry and his team have developed a method of creating and controlling plasma that could revolutionize American energy generation and storage. Besides liquid, gas and solid, matter has a fourth state, known as plasma. Fire and lightning are familiar forms of plasma. Life on Earth depends on the energy emitted by plasma produced during fusion reactions within the sun. However, Curry warns that without federal funding of basic research, America will lose the race to develop new plasma energy technologies. The basic research program was ...

Three unusually long-lasting stellar explosions discovered by NASA's Swift satellite represent a previously unrecognized class of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Two international teams of astronomers studying these events conclude that they likely arose from the catastrophic death of supergiant stars hundreds of times larger than the sun. VIDEO: GRB 101225A, better known as the "Christmas burst, " was an unusually long-lasting gamma-ray burst. Because its distance ...

As Earth moves around the sun, it travels surrounded by a giant bubble created by its own magnetic fields, called the magnetosphere. As the magnetosphere plows through space, it sets up a standing bow wave or bow shock, much like that in front of a moving ship. Just in front of this bow wave lies a complex, turbulent system called the foreshock. Conditions in the foreshock change in response to solar particles streaming in from the sun, moving magnetic fields and a host of waves, some fast, some slow, sweeping through the region. To tease out what happens at that boundary ...

A previous study by the University of Colorado Cancer Center reported the common side effect of low testosterone in men treated with the recently approved lung cancer agent, crizotinib. A new study published this week in the journal Cancer confirms this finding in a multi-national sample, details the mechanism of reduced testosterone, and provides promising preliminary evidence that widely available hormone replacement therapies can alleviate this side effect in many patients. "This was a wonderful collaboration between multiple centers confirming a side effect that had ...

April 16, 2013 – San Francisco – Brain scans are increasingly able to reveal whether or not you believe you remember some person or event in your life. In a new study presented at a cognitive neuroscience meeting today, researchers used fMRI brain scans to detect whether a person recognized scenes from their own lives, as captured in some 45,000 images by digital cameras. The study is seeking to test the capabilities and limits of brain-based technology for detecting memories, a technique being considered for use in legal settings. "The advancement and falling costs ...

Overworked and stressed out? Look on the bright side. Some stress is good for you. "You always think about stress as a really bad thing, but it's not," said Daniela Kaufer, associate professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley. "Some amounts of stress are good to push you just to the level of optimal alertness, behavioral and cognitive performance." New research by Kaufer and UC Berkeley post-doctoral fellow Elizabeth Kirby has uncovered exactly how acute stress – short-lived, not chronic – primes the brain for improved performance. In ...

Combining CT imaging findings with baseline serum lactate dehydrogenase levels is showing promise as a way to predict survival in patients with metastatic melanoma being treated with anti-angiogenic therapy. With the hope of predicting patient survival, researchers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson and at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus analyzed CT images and clinical data from 46 patients with metastatic melanoma that were treated with anti-angiogenic therapy. "The analysis found that initial post-therapy CT ...

The estimated size of chest lymph nodes and lung nodules seen on CT images varies significantly when the same nodes or nodules are examined using lower versus higher doses of radiation, a new study shows. The size of lymph nodes and lung nodules is an important determinant of treatment and treatment success. The study, conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, used a 3D image processing tool to quantitatively measure the volume of the lymph nodes and lung nodules. "We found that lymph node volumes were estimated at 30% lower in five cases and 10% higher in ...

Radiation dose reduction has moved to the forefront of importance in medical imaging with new techniques being developed in an effort to bring doses down as low as possible. What difference can these techniques make? Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine aimed to find out. "We conducted a study to quantify dose reduction, comparing two years' worth of data and 11,458 abdomen and pelvic CT exams," said Dr. Jonas Rydberg, lead author of the study. Data on 5,707 consecutive CT abdomen and pelvis exams without iterative reconstruction or longitudinal dose ...

Salt Lake City, Utah -- Salt Lake Valley, home to the Salt Lake City segment of the Wasatch fault zone and the West Valley fault zone, has been the site of repeated surface-faulting earthquakes (of about magnitude 6.5 to 7). New research trenches in the area are helping geologists and seismologists untangle how this complex fault system ruptures and will aid in forecasting future earthquakes in the area. At the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America (SSA), Christopher DuRoss and Michael Hylland of the Utah Geological Survey will present research today ...

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues analyzed national data to investigate the differences in cancer prevention beliefs by race and ethnicity. They found that minorities, including blacks, Asians and Hispanics, have differing beliefs about cancer prevention and feel they are less likely to get cancer than did whites. The researchers concluded that more culturally relevant information about cancer prevention and risk needs to reach minority populations. Their study appears online in the American Journal of Health Promotion. "The purpose of our study was ...

Divorce after the kids leave the nest comes with its own unique challenges Article provided by Law Office of Dawn R. Underhill Visit us at http://www.dawnunderhill.com/ Two decades ago, divorce was uncommon for those over the age of 50. However, according to the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University that has changed. In a recent study, they found that one in four people seeking a divorce today is in this age category. Reasons are numerous. More couples now reevaluate their relationships after their children leave the ...

Soccer "heading" linked to brain damage Article provided by Romanucci & Blandin, LLC Visit us at http://www.childsafetyillinois.com/ With the recent increase in media attention devoted to the long-term consequences of head injuries among professional football players, many parents have been left wondering whether they should have similar concerns for their athletic children. According to recent research, the answer may very well be yes. In a study at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, researchers investigated the effects of "heading," ...

Divorce on the rise among older Americans Article provided by McCormack & Phillips Visit us at http://www.mcphill.net As baby boomers enter their later years, instances of "gray divorce", or divorce among those over the age of 50, are becoming increasingly common. Gray divorce can be more challenging for former spouses since retirement savings are close to being converted to retirement income and often one spouse has not worked for many years. Gray divorce on the rise The National Center for Family and Marriage Research has found that the number ...

Medical insurers can be persuaded to follow through with payment Article provided by The Grey Law Firm, PC Visit us at http://www.greylaw-sf.com Health care is not cheap, and many Californians rely on health insurance to help meet the costs. However, getting insurance companies to pay the bills can sometimes be problematic. Payment problems The country's Government Accountability Office reported recently that most disagreements between insurers and patients were due to eligibility and billing issues rather than to any dispute over whether a medical procedure ...

Are women better off financially after a divorce? Article provided by Brave, Weber & Mack, APLC Visit us at http://www.bravewebermack.com A new survey has found that 62 percent of divorced women, who have a net worth of at least $1 million, were better off financially post-divorce. The survey mirrors a Pew Research Center report that found 20 percent of women earn 25 percent more after a divorce. According to the survey by Spectrem Group, a financial consulting firm, 73 percent of millionaire divorced women, are knowledgeable or very knowledgably about investments. ...

Shelby County leads state in number of foreclosures Article provided by Jimmy E. McElroy & Associates Visit us at http://www.jmcelroy.com In Shelby County -- where a third of residents either spend too much of their income paying for housing, live in overcrowded homes or lack a kitchen or indoor plumbing -- it comes as little surprise that the county is home to 30 percent of Tennessee's foreclosures. Fortunately, there are resources distressed homeowners can take advantage of to prevent a foreclosure, including filing for bankruptcy. Tennessee's foreclosure ...

Appeals of Social Security disability denials in Minneapolis Article provided by Moga Law Group, PLLC Visit us at http://www.mogalaw.com Recent reports have confirmed that the Social Security disability trust fund may cease to be able to support all benefits as early as 2016. The news comes at a time when Americans as well as the federal government are continuing to tighten their belts to throw off large amounts of debt, and the loss or limitation of Social Security disability benefits may be a part of that deleveraging process. Nevertheless, those entitled to Social ...

Communicating with a former spouse and children after divorce Article provided by The Law Office of Julie R. Glade, RN, JD Visit us at http://www.julieglade.com/ Divorce hurts both parents and children emotionally, as many Indiana families have found. One of the challenges that they face after divorce is communication. The divorced parents still need to communicate with each other, at least until their children grow up. In addition, many Indiana parents experience difficulties in communicating with their own children after divorce. Effective communication with ...

Nevada Assemblyman facing domestic violence charges Article provided by Sprenz & Associates, P.C. Visit us at http://www.sprenzlaw.com Domestic violence charges are serious and can produce devastating, long-term consequences for both the alleged victim and defendant. However, the circumstances surrounding a domestic violence charge are often vague, as the following case illustrates. Messy incident results in domestic battery and obstruction charges A local Nevada Assemblyman was recently arrested for domestic violence related charges after police accused ...